Meeting Minutes 5-17-16

Cromwell Community Toastmasters

Club 5908 ~ District 53

Tues April 17, 2016

Attendees:    Rob Dalo, Crystal Storo, Bill Sullivan, Danielle Payne, Sheetal Patel, Phil Mason, Winston Phillip

Guests: Emily, Matt

Business Meeting

Toastmasters District 53 Spring 2016 Conference 

Friday May 20, 2016 Social and Networking
Saturday, May 21, 2016 Conference

Sheraton Hartford Hotel @ Bradley Airport

Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, CT 06096
Email Hollie Rose klekplo@aol.com if interested

There are two more meetings with the current officers
June 7, 2016 is officer elections
June 21, 2016 is new officer inductions

Current nominations
President- Sheetal Patel
Vice-president of Education- Danielle Payne
Vice-president of Membership- Winston Phillip
Vice-president of Public Relations- Heather Turner
Secretary-
Treasurer- Andrew Watt
Sargent at Arms- Phil Mason
Immediate Past President- Hollie Rose

Charlie Hubert is doing better. He has had trouble getting a ride.
Don Ostertag has moved to Arizona.


Toastmaster Winston Phillip

Invocation Winston Phillip

Winston read the Toastmasters International Club Mission Statement:
We provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.

Table Topics Danielle Payne

Talk about ad from telephone book

Home Security Ad
1:51 Rob – There is not security system in my home. I leave my keys in the ignition and never lock the doors. If someone wants to get into my house they will. A security system only inconveniences me.

Aspen Dental Ad
1:25 Winston – I sat in on a dental class procedure. They were talking about the differences in digital versus analog picture. Digital is cheaper and faster. It also gives a better picture. I was scared but I hope they learn well.

Mortgage Ad
1:02 Phil – I am in contracting. When people get mortgages it is good for me because they may be remodeling their homes. They will call me and I will have business. It is a good time to buy a home because rates and prices are down.

Direct TV Ad
0:45 Matt – The only show I watch is House of Lies on ShowTime. My friend had Direct TV and it was a nightmare. They jack up the prices and have poor service. I would go with Xfinity.

Pluming Ad
0:43 Emily – I work at an engineer contracting building. If your pluming is messed up you will know it. This ad is worth the money they are open on weekends. If your shower or toilet is clogged you will need them. Often the engineer will get in trouble even if its not their fault.

Coffee Ad
1:59 Sheetal – Coffee is not good to me but tea is. There are many different kinds of tea. Particular people have particular types of tea. In northern India tea is popular. Different parts of India have different preferences on everything: tea, language, dressing and staple foods as well as temperature.

Waste Removal and Recycling Ad
1:21 Bill – Waste removal is so important. What if they didn’t pick it up every week? My dad used to tell me to pour the old car oil down the drain. Now there is a sticker on the drain that says it drains to the creek. We didn’t have recycling when I was a kid.

Speaker # 1:  Crystal Storro:  6:45

Manual/Project: Competent Communicator / Ice Breaker

Title: 2^nd Time Around

I have been in Toastmasters for five years and have come a long way. For my first speech I was very nervous and was reading off a piece of paper. I had a hard time but I forced myself. By my 10^th speech I  was much more confident. Toastmasters is about what you get out of it, feedback in a critical way. I taped my 10^th speech. Today Tom Alvord came across the file and sent it to me. I’m proud. I had no notes but I did pace. I was able to see that I am more confident. Push yourself to the next level. We are all in fear and are figuring it out but I can embrace it. I am who I am because of Toastmasters.

Speaker # 2:  Phil Mason: 3:49

Manual/Project: Competent Communicator / Vocal Variety
Title: You Never know What’s Ahead

I bought a Challenger a few years ago. A friend of mine had a much more powerful one. I used to see him from time to time. It has been about 6 months since we saw each other when I ran into him in Home Depot. He said that he sold his car and had broken his neck. On Block Island he was riding around on a moped when some kids ran out in front of him. He swerved into the grass to avoid the kids and landed on his head. He woke up to see a bunch of surgeons who happened to be nearby. He was picked up by a helicopter and was in rehab for 6 months. The day I saw him was the first day  he had been out. You never know what’s ahead. Be safe and pay attention.

Speaker # 3:  Rob Dalo: 7:08

Manual/Project: Competent Communicator / Visual Aids
Title: Visual Aids That Have Guided My Life

I read 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This book helped me explore what I wanted to be by beginning with the end in mind. I spent over one week concentrating on my personal mission statement. I will use these symbols to guide me at crossroads and road blocks. I came up with symbols and these helped me get when I am today. The symbol I focus on most in one circle in the middle with five circles around it. This represents my wife and my three daughters going out to dinner the day before each of my daughters go off to college. My two older daughters have gone to college and soon is will be Katie’s turn. This is very special to my wife and I. It is the culmination of 20 years. Visual aids are everywhere and they have guided me to this point in my life.

Evaluator # 1: Phil Mason 1:48

This is your second Ice Breaker. It was great to see what you have learned. At first you were nervous. It is great for the guests to see how you have grown. You did not have much time to prepare and crafted it on your feet. “You are who you are because of Toastmasters.” Great job.

Evaluator # 2:  Bill Sullivan 2:45

This is your second time working on a CC. The topic was vocal variety which you used when describing the crash. I would like to have seen more. You also could have described the car more. Don’t saw the title in your speech. You could start by asking what types of cars everyone has and then talking about the horsepower. It was a great story and I felt really bad. Great job.

Evaluator # 3:  Crystal Storro 2:47

Thank you for the impromptu speech. You have evolved. We joined Toastmasters at the same time. Great message. You talked about something near and dear to you, your daughters. You showed the symbols and we connected with you. The last picture was very emotional. I felt something in my throat. I want to hear more. You have one more speech to go for your CC.

Officials’ Reports:

WordMaster: Rob Dalo

Gaucherie-
a lack of social grace

Timer:  Hollie Rose

Times given, See above.

Ah Counter: Emily

Winston – “um” - 3 repeats
Crystal Storro – 3 “um” – 2 “you know” – 1 repeat
Phil Mason – 1 “ah” – 1 “um” – 4 “you know”
Danielle Payne – 1 “um”
Rob Dalo – 6 “um” – 2 “you know”
Bill Sullivan – 1 “ah”
Matt – 1”ah” – 3 “um”
Sheetal Patel – 1”ah” – 1 “um”  

Grammarian:  Sheetal Patel

Crystal Storro – “him and I” should be “he and I”
Rob Dalo – “hook line and sinker”

General Evaluator: Rob Dalo

Tonight was Winston’s first time as Toastmaster. Great job Winston. Thank you.
Danielle Payne- Next time just pick someone for table topics instead of waiting for people to volunteer
Phil Mason – Thank you for the signs

Closing: Hollie Rose

Toastmasters District 53 Spring 2016 Conference 

Friday May 20, 2016 and Saturday, May 21, 2016 Conference

Next meeting: June 7, 2016

Respectfully submitted by

Danielle Payne, Secretary

Meeting Minutes 5-3-16

Cromwell Community Toastmasters

Club 5908 ~ District 53

Tues May 3, 2016

Attendees:    Rob Dalo, Bill Sullivan, Danielle Payne, Winston Phillip, Andrew Watt, Phil Mason

Guests: none

Business Meeting

Two members we tapped for possible executive positions for the upcoming year.

Nominations will be talked about next meeting.

Toastmasters District 53 Spring 2016 Conference 

Friday May 21, 2016 Social and Networking
Saturday, May 21, 2016 Conference

Sheraton Hartford Hotel @ Bradley Airport

Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, CT 06096
You can register through the District 53 website

Toastmaster Andrew Watt

Invocation Danielle Payne

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” – Jack Welch

Table Topics Andrew Watt

Everyone read an excerpt from one of Shakespeare’s plays and then discussed Shakespeare.

Bill Sullivan – A moment of honesty, I  never read Shakespeare. I don’t understand him and my mind drifts.

Winston Phillip – I never paid attention to him. I don’t understand it.

Phil Mason – I am with Bill. I don’t understand it. I find that I need to understand the language he used.

Danielle Payne – I was dreading having to read Shakespeare in AP English Lit class but luckily it didn’t fit into my schedule. I was so relieved.

Rob Dalo – My daughter is in the arts and she got me to experience theater and opera. Broadway is like nothing else. I went to see Romeo and Juliet. We ended up getting good seats but I fell asleep.

Andrew Watt – Sonnet 65 is my girlfriend’s favorite part. In ninth grade I was in the play Hamlet. That was the first time Shakespeare meant anything to me. It actually made sense because it lived through the great teacher that I had.

Speaker # 1:  Andrew Watt
Manual/Project: Competent Communicator, Project 6

Title: Becoming a Poet

Because of the small group size Andrew shared a sonnet of his and taught everyone how to write one. In about 15 minutes everyone had created their own sonnet. Each line has to have ten syllables and there is a pattern to the way the words rhyme. For a beginner, start with the rhyming end words and then go back and fill the rest in. Its ok if it doesn’t make sense. After about six to ten time of doing this you will train you brain and be able to write a sonnet from start to finish the regular way.


Speaker # 2:  Rob Dalo : 8:15

Manual/Project: Competent Communicator: Research Your Topic   
Title: The Four Questions

At Subway there is a specific way we go about interviewing employees. First we look over the application. The person is usually 16 years old, dropped off by their parent and very nervous. We look for them to be clean and well dressed. We only ask four questions. First, tell me about your family. Do they have anything positive to say? Second, what will (reference) say when I call him or her? Are they positive? Third, if I hire you and give you the day off, what will you do? Do they have an action plan or are they indecisive? Finally, tell me the story about the three little pigs. Are they excited and expressive or dull and boring? If they have a positive outlook we can train them.

Evaluator # 1: Phil Mason

We could not have done the activity with a larger group. You showed true TM skills by shooting it off he hip and improvising. I enjoyed it. Thank you.

Evaluator # 2:  Danielle Payne

You did a great job of speaking without the chance to prepare. Your speech was very well organized with the four questions. It was also very interesting. To improve you could have established your authority on the topic. Talk about how long you have been working at Subway.

Officials’ Reports:

WordMaster: Rob Dalo

Invincible – adj. incapable of being conquered, defeated, or subdued 

Everyone used it. Great job.

Timer:  Winston Phillip

Times given (some forgot to time for), See above.

Ah Counter: Phil Mason

Danielle Payne – ums, so like, so um
Rob Dalo – um
Winston Phillip - ums

Grammarian:  Bill Sullivan

Andrew Watt – clichéd terms

General Evaluator: Rob Dalo

Thank you for carrying the meeting Andrew.
Thank you for the signs Phil.

Closing: Andrew Watt

Bill finished his Competent Communicator. Congratulations.

Thank you everyone for a great meeting.

Next meeting: May 17, 2016

Respectfully submitted by

Danielle Payne, Secretary

Meeting Minutes 4-5-16

Cromwell Community Toastmasters

Club 5908 ~ District 53

Tues April 5, 2016

Attendees:    Rob Dalo, Crystal Storo, Bill Sullivan, Danielle Payne, Jay Drew, Sheetal Patel, Maribel Camacho

Guests: August Wolf

Business Meeting

Membership Standing
We lost one member
All but one member has paid their dues (the check is in the mail)
We have 21 dues paying members

Discussion regarding being a club sponsor for a new club – Jackson Laboratories (Jen Bourne’s employer)

Division D Speech Contest
April 13 at 7 PM
Thames Club, 290 State Street, New London
Come cheer for the  Area 44 representatives, Sheetal Patel and Andrew Watt
If you are serving as a judge or functionary, please arrive before 6:30.

Toastmasters District 53 Spring 2016 Conference 

Friday May 21, 2016 Social and Networking
Saturday, May 21, 2016 Conference

Sheraton Hartford Hotel @ Bradley Airport

Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, CT 06096

Toastmaster Bill Sullivan

Invocation Maribel Camacho

Maribel read a poem about the questions surrounding life and success

Table Topics Sheetal Patel

Everyone picked three cards from the game Yadda Yadda Yadda

Best friend, voting, favorite desert
1:25 August Wolf – Joe, my best friend, is a chef at William Sonoma. He created a tower of puff pastry goodness. The tower was held together with caramel and spiced sugar. If done right it looks like Trump’s hair.

Teacher, first serious crush, camping
0:56 Jay Drew – I am a happy camper. I go camping with my son and his friends. Everyone sings songs and has a good time. My first serious crush was Paul in high school. He didn’t know that I existed.

Using coupons, living like the Flintstones, professional athletes’ salaries
2:14 Andrew Watt – As a kid my mother did not let us watch the Flintstones. I recently saw that Tom Bradey has a 653 room house. If that was my house I would need a room for coupon clipping.

Baldness, reality tv, ghosts
0:45 Danielle Payne – I think that they should make a new reality tv show where people with no experience give other people haircuts. Rob would be the only one safe on the show.

Cell phone etiquette, dressing up your pet, fast food
2:15 Crystal Storo – I am going to talk about some else, my son. My son just had his 6 month birthday. We went to my brother’s house for the Easter holiday. It is great to see him developing, learning and interacting.

Speaker # 1:  Rob Dalo:  5:04

Manual/Project: Competent Communicator

Title: My Next Trip

I hate giving speeches. I joined three years ago to grow. I would sign up two weeks prior and practice and rewrite. I would take the afternoon before the meeting off to practice. Then I would come in and perform. It was not me. Just as I push myself to grow in Toastmasters, I am pushing myself with my next trip. I just booked a trip to Paris with my daughter, Joey, who lives in California. It’s a five hundred mile hike from France to Spain. We will go church to church and stay in hostiles. I will once again push myself to do something uncomfortable


Speaker # 2:  Andrew Watt: 10:10

Manual/Project: Competent Communicator: Research Your Topic   
Title: The Names of Figures of Speech

Reach back to your ancestors and then to your ancestors’ ancestors. The two figures of speech everyone learns about are metaphor and simile. These, along with others, are the tools or writers and speakers. We should have a guide book to better understand the ancient tools for public speakers. Some other tools include erotesis which is the asking a series of rhetorical questions that lead the audience to the same narrow set of answers. Another example is anaphora. Anaphora is the act of repeating a given phrase at the beginning of several sentences in a row.

Speaker # 3:  Sheetal Patel: 6:21

Manual/Project: Entertaining Speaker Manual
Title: Stay Ignorant and Confident Forever

This is how I used to speak three years ago (very quiet, shy and unsure). That was before Toastmasters. Fast forward to the present time. I was at a wedding in India for my husband’s cousin. Weddings in India are huge with 1500 to 2000 people and last for two weeks. Two days before the dancing night I was asked to be the emcee. I would have to introduce the songs but was told it would all be written out for me. Right before the event I was handed a few notes scribbled on half a piece of paper. I was prepared to handle the situation because of Toastmasters. I delegated roles like someone to keep time, someone else to tell me who was up next. This was just like having functionaries at a meeting. At the end of the dancing night people congratulated me on how well the meeting went. It would not have been possible without Toastmasters. Thank you for being a part of my life.

Evaluator # 1: Bill Sullivan  

I loved the detail about your first speech. I think a lesson could be to not over think your speech all the time. Your journey was from the heart and soul. You moved around too much. Don’t stay in one place but don’t pace either. It was a little confusing how you were hiking in Spain but flying to Paris. Also you could use longer pauses for effect.

Evaluator # 2:  Crystal Storo

The topic was to research your topic. You definitely did that. It was a little hard to write down or spell all the words you were talking about. You could have more vocal variety. I liked your body language. You pointed and counted on your fingers. You squinted when you said, “Don’t you think.” You also had great eye contact. Don’t mention that you had a script. You could have drawn us in more.

Evaluator # 3:  Round Robin

You could look even more nervous at the beginning.
Talk about putting your Competent Communicator and Competent Leader skills more.
Link the wedding story to Toastmasters more.
Talk more about how big Indian wedding are.
Use vocal variety.
Pull it together at the end.
Have the actual half sheet of notes as a prop.

Officials’ Reports:

WordMaster: Jay Drew

Malarkey – insensitive of foolish talk

Bill Sullivan – 3
Sheetal Patel – 2
Crystal Storo – 2
Rob Dalo – 1

Timer:  Danielle Payne

Times given, See above.

Ah Counter: August Wolf

Andew Watt – “gonna”
Rob Dalo – “you know,” run ons, double “ands”

Bill Sullivan – “um,” “yur”
Sheetal Patel – no ahs or ums but you tend to draw out the word “the”

Table Topics
Jay Drew – 1 “ah,” 1 “um
Andrew Watt – none
Danielle Payne – 1 “ah,” 2 “ums”
Crystal Storo – “ahs,” “ums”

Evaluations
Bill Sullivan – Double “I can,” “yeah so its gonna”
Crystal Storo – “ums”

Grammarian:  Rob Dalo

Maribel Camacho – the daily grind
August Wolf – filled goodness
Jay Drew – happy camper
Andrew Watt – Tom Bradey, the head of the football team
Danielle Payne – Rob would be the only one safe because he’s bald
Crystal Storo – watching him from afar
Andrew Watt – blowing smoke
Sheetal Patel – inspired by those present and absent
Crystal Storo – be interested in my squint
Bill Sullivan – prepping and preparing

General Evaluator: Andrew Watt

We only had a few people but everyone filled the roles nicely.
Thank you everyone for stepping up.
Thank you to our Toastmaster Bill Sullivan

Closing: August Wolf

There are district incentives like a phone charger if you do items on the list such as attend a contest, act as a functionary, act as a contestant or visit another club.

Don’t forget the Division D Speech Contest and the District 53 Spring 2016 Conference (info under Business Meeting)

Next meeting: April 18, 2016

Respectfully submitted by

Danielle Payne, Secretary